Bosnia considered a post-war country does not have any quotas for its export of finished products which can be exported to Europe and the US. Also, Bosnia need not pay an export tax on its products or it is very minimal. Pakistani entrepreneurs have great opportunity to set up their unit in Bosnia, label and export it to rest of Europe without facing any quota bars on the produce.

Bosnia Herzegovina offers Pakistan a gateway to the European Union. Bosnian ambassador to Islamabad Dr Nedim Makarevic on Saturday said that his country could become a gateway to Pakistani textile, sports and surgical instruments for their export to Europe to the benefit of two countries.

He urged the Pakistani private sector to open up and establish producing facilities of their items in Bosnia which can offer them a gateway to Europe and the margin of profit is quite attractive as well.

Pakistani businessmen who are producing textile or sports wears, need to establish facilities in Bosnia to export their half-finished products to Bosnia, finish these products in Bosnia, and then sky is the limit, said the Bosnia ambassador.

The questioned rose was whether by doing that, Pakistani businessmen would not be reducing their margin of profit. But according to Dr Nedim, despite being reduced, the profit would still be lucrative for them.

Giving an example, he said that 1 Kg of mango was $6 dollars in Bosnia while 1 kg mango in Pakistan is $1. So even if they paid triple the price on transportation of mangoes from Karachi to Bosnia, the margin would still be double.

Similarly Pakistani Jeans, sports wears are needed in Bosnia as it was a football nation. Similarly cloth sheets, towels, pillows and Pakistani Jeans can reap them good profit.

Pakistani businessmen need to be aggressive in their approach and should not shy of taking risk. There is a huge opportunity in Bosnia if they establish producing units of textile, sports goods and textile the fields Pakistanis have years of experience and are already in the market, said Dr Nedim.

Bosnia had privatized its entire industry first to Kuwaitis but they could not manage it well so they resold it to Mittal of India which had invested over one billion dollars in Bosnia.

The trade between the two countries has increased 50 percent but even then the figure is too small to be mentioned as there is a great potential of bolstering commercial ties between the two countries. Expressing his dissatisfaction over the level of bilateral trade, Dr Nedim said that it needs to be increased much more.

The factors behind poor trade between the two sides, he said that given the distance with Pakistan, Bosnia was concentrating more on the European Union, North America and to a few Gulf countries.

Then there are security issues in Pakistan which is of concern to businessmen, he said, while supporting Islamabad’s action to terminate terrorism.

However, his embassy was ready to provide any information to the interested investors and he had been meeting representatives of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot detailing them about the investment opportunities available in Bosnia.

He opined that Pakistanis are not an investor nation although there are huge opportunities in Bosnia.